The 20th annual edition of the Chicano International Film Festival takes over Plaza de la Raza in Lincoln Heights this Saturday, for a full day of screenings, panels and musical performances. The event, formerly known as the East Los Angeles Film Festival, moves Sunday to the Arclight Cinema in Hollywood for an afternoon that will include the Los Angeles premiere of the feature “The Other Barrio.”
Screenings on Saturday begin at 10:30 a.m. with a section dedicated to youth and student films and continue through 7 p.m. with a special screening of the “Ovarian Psycos” documentary, about the local, all-women cycling troupe. Film categories include documentaries in long and short form, music videos, LGBTQ and narrative shorts and feature. Winners in several of the categories include “400 Miles” in the LGBTQ category, “Hola Kitty” in documentary short and “I Am Gangster” in the narrative feature division.
All day Saturday there will be community vendors selling food and crafts, and starting at 12:30 p.m. there will be an art installation at Plaza de la Raza’s boathouse gallery by local artist Joseph Montalvo (aka Nuke). The day will end with musical performances from 7 p.m. through midnight, featuring artists Nancy Sánchez, Cuicani and Sin Color, among others. A beer and wine garden will be open from 5 to 11 p.m.
Sunday’s program at the Arclight begins with an awards ceremony at 1:30 that includes a special recognition to playwright and screenwriter Josefina López, director of Boyle Heights’ Casa 0101 theater. A 2:30 screening of “The Other Barrio” is followed by a q&a session with writer and star Richard Montoya and other filmmakers.
Watch a preview of “The Other Barrio”:
THE OTHER BARRIO TRAILER from Dante Betteo on Vimeo.
All-day tickets for Plaza de la Raza are $15 and $25 for Sunday’s screening and panel at the Arclight. Full program and information can be found at chicanoiff.com.
Image above: “400 Miles.”
